| Kippreport.com

Colliers International has just released a report saying that property prices in Dubai have fallen by 40 percent in the last six months. Is that tempting enough for you to buy?

April 26, 2009 10:50 by Aarti Nagraj

Several research houses and banks have released reports about the future of Dubai’s property market. Last week, global property consultant Colliers International said that the emirate’s residential sales prices have seen an average 40 to 42 percent decrease since the fourth quarter of 2008 due to the financial crisis.

In spite of the drop in prices, however, most of Kipp’s readers say they will not be buying properties in Dubai anytime soon. While 23 percent of respondents to Kipp’s poll said that they have no money to invest right now, around 34 percent said that they are waiting for the prices to fall further. Only 5 percent said that this is the best time to invest.

For those waiting for the rates to drop further, there is good news; a report published last week by financial bank UBS said that Dubai house prices could fall 70 percent from the rates in Q4 last year because investors may not re-enter the market in 2009. “In our view we are still in relatively early stages of the property down cycle in the UAE,” the bank said.

UBS said Dubai’s population is likely to fall 10 percent in the next two years because of job cuts, and that average house purchase prices could fall from AED1,850 per square foot in the fourth quarter of 2008 to AED500.

But the ongoing discussion about Dubai’s real estate is not appealing to everybody, with 38 percent (the majority) of respondents asking: “Can you please stop talking about property in Dubai?”

Tags: 70 percent, Colliers, Dubai property prices, falling, house rates, Real estate, rports, UBS